The Preponderance of Harrys
by poestheblackcat
Summary: According to reports created by the British Magical Census Bureau, "Harry" was the most popular baby name in Wizarding Britain in the 1980s, and regained popularity in 1998 and into the new millenium. This is a story that's not really a story about those Harrys (and Harriets, and Harolds, and- you get the picture).


While I was reading _Harry Potter_ fanfiction one day, I started wondering why Harry never noticed any other kids named Harry at Hogwarts. I mean, you'd think there would be, if Harry was such a celebrity from the time when he was a baby. In the Muggle world, of course, when celebrities get famous, there is generally an upward trend of babies named after them (note the spike in the name "Justin" in the 2000s-2010s, undoubtedly caused by Justins Timberlake and Bieber). So it makes sense that Harry would have a bunch of almost-contemporaries named after him. But then I figured that oblivious Harry is oblivious, so he wouldn't notice anyone being named Harry if they weren't in his year.

Summary: According to reports created by the British Magical Census Bureau, "Harry" was the most popular baby name in Wizarding Britain in the 1980s, and regained popularity in 1998 and into the new millenium. This is a story that's not really a story about those Harrys (and Harriets, and Harolds, and- you get the picture).

Disclaimer: Anything you recognize is not mine. This story has not been checked for Americanisms. Please let me know if you see any, and how to fix them.

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 **The Preponderance of Harrys**

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In the school year 1992-1993, roughly 35% of first year students were named Harry, Harriet, or some other variation of the name.

One might wonder why such a _common_ name as "Harry" became popular in a culture in which Bilius, Wulfric, and Xenophilius (but not Nymphadora), are all considered perfectly acceptable names.

Research shows that the name was nowhere near as popular as it later became until November of 1981. Further studies point to the singular event that occurred on the last day of October of that year as the catalyst for the popularity of the name.

On the night of 31 October, 1981, Harry James Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, otherwise known as Lord Voldemort, the Dark Lord, You-Know-Who, Tom Marvolo Riddle, and Mouldy Voldy (because you know that's what the Marauders and the Prewitt twins called him).

Ecstatic parents began naming their newborns after The-Boy-Who-Lived, otherwise known as Harry James Potter (as previously mentioned), Prongslet, Boy, It, and Freak.

Eleven years later, over a quarter of the incoming students were named after the savior of the wizarding world. The percentage of those so named would be higher if one discounted the muggleborn students, whose parents would, of course, have had no idea who Harry Potter was at the time of their unknowingly magical children's births.

"Barnes, Harry."

"Higglebuckle, Harriet."

"Jones, Harold."

"Marbles, Harrison."

(Professor Snape could often be heard grinding his teeth that year, and it had nothing to do with the fear of the Heir of Slytherin that permeated the halls of that most eminent magical institution.)

The following year also brought a rather high percentage of "Harry" variants.

"Bingham, Harrie."

"Graham, Hal."

"Zwinch, Harrielle."

And so on.

The name was popular the following year, and the next. In fact, the trend continued well into the decade.

The popularity of the name continued until the most of the Harrys at Hogwarts in 1994, regardless of their year, decided that they hated their names and begged to be called Hal, Henry, Harold, Harrison, or by their surnames, even of their closest friends — basically anything that would disassociate them from Potter, who apparently, was a terrible human being who didn't deserve to be a Triwizard Champion. The same thing occurred the following year, all the way until 1997-1998 when _no one_ wanted to be associated with the name.

Of course, at the end of the war, "Harry" was popular again.

The name tapered off in popularity for the next generation until 2009, when the next batch of Harrys and Harriets (along with the Albuses, Ronalds, and Hermiones) arrived at Hogwarts, eager to be sorted.

(The Deputy Headmaster, Professor Longbottom, was pleasantly surprised to see a couple of Nevilles among that year's students, while young Teddy Lupin was a little wigged out by the small firstie named Nymphadora Acromantula Wingle-Betham. [He wasn't the only one.])

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 **AN:** Like I said, this isn't a "real" story, just a sort of fanfictional observation/head canon type thing that popped into my head.


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